[Business Spotlight] Greensboro Ballet

Greensboro Ballet started in 1963 as the Civic Ballet Theatre, which was a small community performance company. In 1995, the name was changed to Greensboro Ballet and professional dancers were hired. Today, Greensboro Ballet is a nonprofit organization consisting of a performing company and a school of dance.

Coming up this holiday season, is the annual performance of “The Nutcracker” at The Carolina Theatre on Dec. 9 and 10 at 3 p.m., Dec. 16 at 2 p.m. and Dec. 17 at 3 p.m. and the “Gala Nutcracker” performance on Dec. 16 at 7:30 p.m. and the event following the performance at 9:30 p.m. Jennifer Gentry, Greensboro Ballet’s marketing director wrote in an email that “The Nutcracker” has been a holiday tradition in the Triad for over 35 years.

She wrote that attending the Gala Nutcracker is a chance to see world-class professional ballet dancers from New York City Ballet. The guest Sugar Plum Fairy for that performance is a former Greensboro Ballet student, Megan LeCrone

“Megan began her training at age 4 at GB, going on to UNCSA at age 14 and then to the School of American Ballet (most prestigious dance school in America),” Gentry wrote in an email. “Megan has also recently joined Greensboro Ballet as a board member and as an advisor. We are thrilled to have Megan back to perform in the Triad where she grew up and her mother still resides!”

Gentry said this year’s “Nutcracker” is significant because this is the first year Greensboro Ballet will have Lauren Dorn, an African American dancer, performing as the Sugar Plum Fairy for the Dec. 9 and 10 performances.

“Dancers of all ethnicities have performed as Cavalier, the main character Clara and other lead roles including the Snow King and Queen,” Gentry wrote in the email. “But it just happens that this year we have an extremely talented and beautiful young dancer, also a student at UNCG, performing as our Sugar Plum Fairy.”

“Greensboro Ballet’s is very much community oriented,” Gentry wrote in an email. “Meaning that our performers are from the Greater Greensboro area and we often have guest performers from the community.”

This has included former Greensboro Ballet student Emily Bryd (from Fox8), Tanya Rivera (from WFMY-News 2), former mayor Keith Holliday and his wife, who perform as guests during the party scene.

“Our production also usually has quite a bit of humor in it,” Gentry wrote. “We take classical ballet training very seriously, but we don’t take ourselves very seriously at all.”

Tickets are available to purchase at the Carolina Theatre box office. For more information visit Greensboro Ballet’s website, http://www.greensboroballet.org/the-school-of-greensboro-ballet.